Reading Matthew 4:17 today I was struck by the fact that the first sermon Jesus preached began with the word:  Repent.  This is the last word our culture wants to hear.  The prevailing view is that nothing requires repentance.  God loves us all and He is willing to take us all to live with Him just as we are.  There seems to be no real sin and thus no need for repentance.  And yet….in Luke 13:3 and 5 Jesus says twice that “except you repent, you shall all likewise perish.”  Repentance must be important to Him.  If we are concerned with eternity and our relationship with God, repentance must also be important to us.  It is only our repentance that allows us to experience the forgiveness of God through Christ.  It is our repentance that assures us of His forgiveness and paves the way for us to have victory over our sin.  We can only overcome that which we acknowledge in our hearts as sin.  1 John 1:9.

Many of us think of sin as something we do rather than someone we are.  We are sinners because we want to do our own will rather than God’s.  We want to be our own king and god in our lives, just as Eve did in the garden.  We want to tell God what to do and when to do it rather than wait for Him to work His will in us.  Paul said it well in Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh.”  We sleep with those we aren’t married to because we want benefits without responsibility.  We defraud others for our own profit.  We defend those living sinful lives because we think our sin is not as great as theirs and it makes us feel better.  We give to good works again for our own pleasure and reputation.  We tend not to think about the judgment of God that is coming upon us all due to our lack of repentance.

So what is repentance?  It simply means to do a 180-degree turn around from following my own desires and pathway to following Jesus Christ and His paths.  To release my hold on my own life, desires, goals, and take on His life, desires and goals for me.  It means letting God have His way in my life.  It is walking by faith in His heart of love for me.  It is knowing He always has my best interests at heart and, since He made my heart, He knows much more than I what is good for me.  It means loving Jesus, more and more each day and walking in His love.